Billions spent in infill and renovation over the pandemic years have changed the housing landscape in Toronto and Vancouver, raising the overall value of residential housing stock and supporting higher prices on single-family homes in the future, despite downward market pressure.

Trends at a Glance

  • Revitalization is one of the most underestimated factors behind the downturn of housing affordability and availability in Toronto and Vancouver. With undeveloped land committed to high-density, the single-detached home is quickly becoming a unicorn.
  • Between 2019 and 2023, the increase in renovation spending approached $300 billion nationally, up 8% over the previous five-year period, yet the value of residential building permits issued for single-family dwellings fell in the Toronto and Vancouver during the same period, due to a greater focus on high-density construction.
  • Close to 30% of the GTA’s existing housing stock and an estimated 20% of Vancouver’s was constructed in 1960 or before. The push to make the best use of scarce land has homeowners and builders aiming to maximize square footage or increase density on individual building lots in traditional urban neighbourhoods.
  • Robust renovation and infill activity and the resulting lift in detached values has inevitably impacted the urban housing ladder. We’ve heard about the disappearing or ‘missing middle.’ Due to rising detached values, the middle is now more likely to be a link home, a townhouse, or a condo unit.

Regional Highlights

RE/MAX brokers and agents offer local insights on the changing housing landscape.

Vancouver:

  • Renovation, rehabilitation and infill continue unabated in Vancouver proper, with new buyers and existing homeowners embarking on renovation projects and builders looking to increase densification.
  • Red tape and restrictions are making it difficult to subdivide larger lots, given current zoning in many neighbourhoods.
  • Vancouver is rapidly changing and existing detached homes are seeing upward pressure on pricing, particularly when renovated to today’s standards.
  • Interestingly, the City of Vancouver is seeking to retain character homes, typically those built before 1940 that represent the original aesthetic of core neighbourhoods.
  • Maximizing square footage and density on existing lots will continue to be a growing trend.

Toronto:

  • A significant influx of young buyers is moving into communities and homes once inhabited by parents and grandparents.
  • Instead of selling their homes, newcomers kept their properties and moved north, east and west of the city where houses and lot sizes were bigger and more conducive to large families, while renting out their existing homes.
  • This trend is also visible in areas such as East York, Riverdale and Leslieville, particularly where there are strips of semi-detached, townhomes and row housing.
  • The evolution of housing stock in these communities, which began in the 1980s, is almost ready for a second revival.
  • Renovation and infill activity is raising the average price of homes one property at a time, impacting values of surrounding real estate, changing the physical landscape as well as the mix of the housing supply and homebuyers in the city.

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